The efforts of this sector is commendable for growing significantly and making it possible while withstanding a challenging environment,” said Anup Wadhawan, Union Commerce Secretary, while inaugurating the VIII International Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS) here on Thursday.

He reiterated the strong potential that India has, of which the engineering sector plays a strong part. “With trade volume of $15 billion per annum, engineering exports account for about 25% of India’s total exports, and further contributing to about 5% of the country’s GDP. Given the protectionism sweeping major countries of the world and engineering being one of the segments affected by such restrictive measures, the exporting firms should look at innovative methods to enhance competitiveness and take advantage of various market access opportunities,” he added.

IESS -VIII, touted as the country’s largest display of engineering products and solutions, organised by the EEPC India is supported by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and the Department of Heavy Industry. This three-day exhibition showcases 400 exhibitors, 500 overseas buyers and 10,000 trade visitors.

Tamil Nadu is hosting this event for the third consecutive time, with Malaysia as the partner country in 2019 for the IESS. India-Malaysia bilateral trade aggregated to $14.71 bn in 2017-18, with total exports from India to Malaysia amounting to $5.7 bn while its imports from Malaysia stood at around $9 bn. The Malaysian delegation is led by Datuk K Talagavathi, Deputy Secretary General, Ministry of International Trade & Industry, Malaysia. She expressed her optimism in enhancing bilateral trade in future.

EEPC India and Malaysia Automotive, Robotics & IoT Institute (MARii) signed an MoU for 3 years to partner with IESS. While signing the pact, Dato’ Madani Sahari, CEO, MARii said, “Our partnership spells out areas we would collaborate - technology adoption and development. With strong automative industry presence in Malaysia and India, our companies can go higher in efficiency and technology. To enter untapped markets, Malaysia and India plan to explore possibilities of entering the Asian and African markets respectively through our mutual partner presence. Our partnership will also extend into exploring the area of human capital development.”